Meyer and Cohn,1 in 1911, studied the effect of various salts on the weight and mineral balance in normal infants. They found that by giving calcium salts they could cause a decrease in weight due to water loss. In the case of calcium chlorid, they found that the calcium ion seemed to be largely excreted in the stool, while the chlorin ion was excreted in the urine in combination with other bases.

Schultz,2 in 1918, reported ninety-three cases of war nephritis which he had observed and treated. On the basis of the work of Meyer and Cohn, he tried the effect of large doses of calcium chlorid, and in many instances the edema disappeared completely. The calcium was not always effective, however. In certain of the resistant cases, there was apparently also a cardiac factor, and occasionally a combination of digitalis and calcium produced diuresis and loss of edema fluid.